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The Little Immigrants
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The Golden Bridge
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Nation Builders:
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The Childrens Homefinder:
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Middlemore Atlantic Society
Title: Middlemore Atlantic SocietyBookID: midatsoc-nonficAuthors: Marion CrawfordISBN-10(13): N-O-N-E1Publisher: Middlemore Atlantic SocietyPublication date: 2011Edition: 1stLanguage: EnglishPrice: $25.00 CA
The British Home Children remains one of the least known elements of our society.
Despite the fact that 100,000 of these kids - mostly waifs and strays picked up off the streets of British cities - were shipped to Canada between 1869 and 1939, people know little about them or what circumstances may have occurred to place them here.
Many are surprised to learn that these children and their descendents now make up 12 per cent of our population.
But, little by little, more of this important part of our history is becoming known.Thanks to a new book by Sussex resident Marion Crawford, called Middlemore Atlantic Society, Canadians are one step closer to understanding these youngsters.
Mrs. Crawford's new publication follows a pair of significant events in Canada over the last 12 months.Thanks to the hard work of many, 2010 was not only declared the year of the British Home Child, Canada Post was persuaded to issue a commemorative stamp.A pair of quilts were also created to help promote the year's events.
"It seemed to me that something was still lacking and so after some encouragement from the Kings County Historical Society, I decided that a book to commemorate the 30th consecutive annual reunion of the British Home Children needed to be addressed," Mrs. Crawford said in explaining the motivation behind her new publication.
"I began in November 2010 to compile what, I thought, would be of interest to those who have attended the reunions in the past years, as well as give the general public a look at the origin of the children's immigration movement and how the Middlemore reunions began."
Middlemore, based in Birmingham, England, sent thousands of kids to the Maritimes.The reunions, meanwhile, have become a late summer fixture in Fredericton."To some who have attended in the past, the search for their personal historical connection was what drew them to these events," Mrs. Crawford pointed out. "However, the overall intention to carrying on the reunions has been to honour our British Home Children by making that one day of the year, a day that they take top priority in our lives."
Mrs. Crawford's grandfather, Joseph Ernest Taylor, was a British Home Child, arriving in Canada in 1911.Over the years, Mrs. Crawford, a researcher, has been able to help countless individuals, not just in Canada, but many from the U.S., Australia and the U.K. She's been successful in helping them find direction to further their search.
"We have been able to play a role in several families getting reunited and three of these families have been highlighted in the book," Mrs. Crawford said.There are 126 photos in the 94-page book - many of which are in colour and available through Mrs. Crawford.
When these children were sent to Canada and Australia, the idea was to provide them with a better life.The plan was a sound one in theory but it didn't always work out as planned.Some, as young as three, suffered abuse at the hands of the very people who promised to look after.Supposed care-givers became tormentors from hell.
Although the home children were looked down upon because of their unfortunate circumstances in life, they were not stupid .They were nothing more than the unfortunate victims of their own circumstances.Many went on to become leaders of society.
We owe them much.
Mrs. Crawford's book is currently on sale at the Kings County Museum (Hampton), Sussex Co-op Grocery and the Sussex General Store and Emporium for $25 each. The books will also be on sale Sept.17 at the 31st annual British Home Child reunion, slated for the St. John's Anglican Church Hall, 75 Main St., Fredericton. They can also be ordered direct from Marion Crawford, mas@nbnet.nb.ca or marionbhcd@gmail.com
Michael Staples is a reporter/editor with The Daily Gleaner. He can be reached at staples.michael@dailygleaner.com.
The British Home Children remains one of the least known elements of our society.
Despite the fact that 100,000 of these kids - mostly waifs and strays picked up off the streets of British cities - were shipped to Canada between 1869 and 1939, people know little about them or what circumstances may have occurred to place them here.
Many are surprised to learn that these children and their descendents now make up 12 per cent of our population.
But, little by little, more of this important part of our history is becoming known.Thanks to a new book by Sussex resident Marion Crawford, called Middlemore Atlantic Society, Canadians are one step closer to understanding these youngsters.
Mrs. Crawford's new publication follows a pair of significant events in Canada over the last 12 months.Thanks to the hard work of many, 2010 was not only declared the year of the British Home Child, Canada Post was persuaded to issue a commemorative stamp.A pair of quilts were also created to help promote the year's events.
"It seemed to me that something was still lacking and so after some encouragement from the Kings County Historical Society, I decided that a book to commemorate the 30th consecutive annual reunion of the British Home Children needed to be addressed," Mrs. Crawford said in explaining the motivation behind her new publication.
"I began in November 2010 to compile what, I thought, would be of interest to those who have attended the reunions in the past years, as well as give the general public a look at the origin of the children's immigration movement and how the Middlemore reunions began."
Middlemore, based in Birmingham, England, sent thousands of kids to the Maritimes.The reunions, meanwhile, have become a late summer fixture in Fredericton."To some who have attended in the past, the search for their personal historical connection was what drew them to these events," Mrs. Crawford pointed out. "However, the overall intention to carrying on the reunions has been to honour our British Home Children by making that one day of the year, a day that they take top priority in our lives."
Mrs. Crawford's grandfather, Joseph Ernest Taylor, was a British Home Child, arriving in Canada in 1911.Over the years, Mrs. Crawford, a researcher, has been able to help countless individuals, not just in Canada, but many from the U.S., Australia and the U.K. She's been successful in helping them find direction to further their search.
"We have been able to play a role in several families getting reunited and three of these families have been highlighted in the book," Mrs. Crawford said.There are 126 photos in the 94-page book - many of which are in colour and available through Mrs. Crawford.
When these children were sent to Canada and Australia, the idea was to provide them with a better life.The plan was a sound one in theory but it didn't always work out as planned.Some, as young as three, suffered abuse at the hands of the very people who promised to look after.Supposed care-givers became tormentors from hell.
Although the home children were looked down upon because of their unfortunate circumstances in life, they were not stupid .They were nothing more than the unfortunate victims of their own circumstances.Many went on to become leaders of society.
We owe them much.
Mrs. Crawford's book is currently on sale at the Kings County Museum (Hampton), Sussex Co-op Grocery and the Sussex General Store and Emporium for $25 each. The books will also be on sale Sept.17 at the 31st annual British Home Child reunion, slated for the St. John's Anglican Church Hall, 75 Main St., Fredericton. They can also be ordered direct from Marion Crawford, mas@nbnet.nb.ca or marionbhcd@gmail.com
Michael Staples is a reporter/editor with The Daily Gleaner. He can be reached at staples.michael@dailygleaner.com.
Orphans of the Empire; The shocking story of child migration to Australia
Title: Orphans of the Empire; The shocking story of child migration to AustraliaBookID: orphans-nonficAuthors: Alan GillISBN-10(13): 1864290625Publisher: MillenniumPublication date: 1997Edition: 1stLanguage: EnglishPrice: Varies
"This book draws back the curtain on a part of Australian and British history that has been crying out for recogition. All Australians should read it" Sir Ronald Wilson "This story is remarkable. Even more remarkable is the fact that, until now, it was largely untold. This is an important story, an important part of Australia's story and long overdue. David Hill "Orphans of the Empire is unusually affecting, hard to put down..." Geraldine Doogue The praise goes on and on for this remarkable book which was published first in late 1997 by Millennium just before that company went into liquidation. Only 1,500 copies were printed and all sold within weeks. Now Random House has republished this book in a more accessible format with a new chapter. This is a book about the white stolen children - a lost tribe - who were supposedly orphans arriving in Australia from many countries to a better future but who in reality simply came from poor families and arrived to uncertain futures and often extremely abusive environments in various institutions. More than 80,000 people were directly involved in this experience as 'orphans' while thousands more have been affected by the experience as children and relatives of the orphans and as Australian born children who were also living in the institutions described in this book. Although there were occasional great acts of kindness towards these children there was also systematic abuse of all kinds. Orphans of the Empire is based on hundreds of hours of taped interviews with men and women who came to Australia as child migrants. It is the complete, shocking story.
"This book draws back the curtain on a part of Australian and British history that has been crying out for recogition. All Australians should read it" Sir Ronald Wilson "This story is remarkable. Even more remarkable is the fact that, until now, it was largely untold. This is an important story, an important part of Australia's story and long overdue. David Hill "Orphans of the Empire is unusually affecting, hard to put down..." Geraldine Doogue The praise goes on and on for this remarkable book which was published first in late 1997 by Millennium just before that company went into liquidation. Only 1,500 copies were printed and all sold within weeks. Now Random House has republished this book in a more accessible format with a new chapter. This is a book about the white stolen children - a lost tribe - who were supposedly orphans arriving in Australia from many countries to a better future but who in reality simply came from poor families and arrived to uncertain futures and often extremely abusive environments in various institutions. More than 80,000 people were directly involved in this experience as 'orphans' while thousands more have been affected by the experience as children and relatives of the orphans and as Australian born children who were also living in the institutions described in this book. Although there were occasional great acts of kindness towards these children there was also systematic abuse of all kinds. Orphans of the Empire is based on hundreds of hours of taped interviews with men and women who came to Australia as child migrants. It is the complete, shocking story.
Uprooted: The Shipment of Poor Children
Title: Uprooted: The Shipment of Poor ChildrenBookID: uprooted-nonficAuthors: Roy ParkerISBN-10(13): 1847426689Publisher: University of British Columbia PressPublication date: February 20, 2008Edition: 1stLanguage: EnglishPrice: Varies
Some 80,000 British children - many of them under the age of ten - were shipped from Britain to Canada by Poor Law authorities and voluntary bodies during the 50 years following Confederation in 1867. How did this come about? What were the motives and methods of the people involved in both countries? Why did it come to an end? What effects did it have on the children involved and what eventually became of them? These are the questions Roy Parker explores in a meticulously researched work that brings together economic, political, social, medical, legal, administrative and religious aspects of the story in Britain and Canada. He concludes with a moving review of evidence from more recent survivors of child migration, discussing the lifelong effects of their experiences with the help of modern psychological insights.
His book - humane and highly professional - will capture and hold the interest of many: the academic, the practitioner and the general reader; and they will include the relatives and descendants, both in Britain and Canada, of the children around whom this study revolves.
Some 80,000 British children - many of them under the age of ten - were shipped from Britain to Canada by Poor Law authorities and voluntary bodies during the 50 years following Confederation in 1867. How did this come about? What were the motives and methods of the people involved in both countries? Why did it come to an end? What effects did it have on the children involved and what eventually became of them? These are the questions Roy Parker explores in a meticulously researched work that brings together economic, political, social, medical, legal, administrative and religious aspects of the story in Britain and Canada. He concludes with a moving review of evidence from more recent survivors of child migration, discussing the lifelong effects of their experiences with the help of modern psychological insights.
His book - humane and highly professional - will capture and hold the interest of many: the academic, the practitioner and the general reader; and they will include the relatives and descendants, both in Britain and Canada, of the children around whom this study revolves.
The Quarriers Story, One Mans Vision Which Gave Over 40,000 Children a New Life
Title: The Quarriers Story, One Mans Vision Which Gave Over 40,000 Children a New LifeBookID: quarriers-nonficAuthors: Anna MagnussonISBN-10(13): 1841584940Publisher: Publication date: 2006Edition: 1stLanguage: EnglishPrice: $24.95 CA
In 1871, Glasgow shoemaker William Quarrier founded an organisation which offered help to the thousands of destitute children in Glasgow’s infamous slums. Shortly after Quarriers Village was opened, providing a refuge in the rolling fields of Renfrewshire. Since these beginnings, Quarriers has cared for over 40,000 children in need and now provides support and care for adults and children with a wide range of physical or learning disadvantages and their families. This is a detailed record of the organisation’s evolution and an inspiring story of one man’s legacy.
This book, by Anna Magnusson, chronicles the history of Quarriers from its earliest days as a refuge for thousands of destitute children in Victorian Scotland through to becoming one of the 21 st century’s leading social care charities. It tells the inspiring story of how the vision and determination of one man – William Quarrier – created a legacy which continues to serve the people of Scotland to this day.
In 1871, Glasgow shoemaker William Quarrier founded an organisation which offered help to the thousands of destitute children in Glasgow’s infamous slums. Shortly after Quarriers Village was opened, providing a refuge in the rolling fields of Renfrewshire. Since these beginnings, Quarriers has cared for over 40,000 children in need and now provides support and care for adults and children with a wide range of physical or learning disadvantages and their families. This is a detailed record of the organisation’s evolution and an inspiring story of one man’s legacy.
This book, by Anna Magnusson, chronicles the history of Quarriers from its earliest days as a refuge for thousands of destitute children in Victorian Scotland through to becoming one of the 21 st century’s leading social care charities. It tells the inspiring story of how the vision and determination of one man – William Quarrier – created a legacy which continues to serve the people of Scotland to this day.
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Home ChildrenTitle: The Home ChildrenBookID: homechil-nonficAuthors: Phyllis HarrisonISBN-10(13): 0920486150Publisher: J.Gordon ShillingfordPublication date: November 14, 2003Edition: 1stLanguage: EnglishPrice: $16.95 US
More than 100,000 British children came to Canada to be indentured to farmers between 1869 and 1939. In their own words, some of the survivors recall the circumstances that separated them from their families and the reality of loneliness, hard work and discrimination in a vast new country. Phyllis Harrison is a former social worker and journalist. Her book documents a major, but little known event in Canadian History. |
The Forgotten Children: Fairbridge Farm School and Its Betrayal of Australias Child Migrants
Title: The Forgotten Children: Fairbridge Farm School and Its Betrayal of Australias Child MigrantsBookID: forgottench-nonficAuthors: David HillISBN-10(13): 1741666848Publisher: Random House AustraliaPublication date: May 1, 2007Edition: 1stLanguage: EnglishPrice: Varies
In 1959 David Hill's mother, a poor single parent living in England, reluctantly decided to send her sons to Fairbridge Farm School in New South Wales where, she was led to believe, they would have a good education and a better life. David was lucky, his mother was able to follow him out to Australia, but for most children, the reality was shockingly different. From 1938 to 1974 thousands of parents were persuaded to sign over legal guardianship of their children to Fairbridge to solve the problem of child poverty in Britain while populating the colony. Now many of those children have decided to speak out. Physical and sexual abuse was not uncommon. Loneliness was rife. Food was often inedible. The standard of education was appalling. Here, for the first time, is the story of the lives of the Fairbridge children, from the bizarre luxury of the voyage out to Australia to the harsh reality of the first days there; from the crushing daily routine to stolen moments of freedom and the struggle that defined life after leaving the school. This remarkable book is both a tribute to the children who were betrayed by an ideal that went terribly awry and a compelling account of an extraordinary episode in Australian British History.
In 1959 David Hill's mother, a poor single parent living in England, reluctantly decided to send her sons to Fairbridge Farm School in New South Wales where, she was led to believe, they would have a good education and a better life. David was lucky, his mother was able to follow him out to Australia, but for most children, the reality was shockingly different. From 1938 to 1974 thousands of parents were persuaded to sign over legal guardianship of their children to Fairbridge to solve the problem of child poverty in Britain while populating the colony. Now many of those children have decided to speak out. Physical and sexual abuse was not uncommon. Loneliness was rife. Food was often inedible. The standard of education was appalling. Here, for the first time, is the story of the lives of the Fairbridge children, from the bizarre luxury of the voyage out to Australia to the harsh reality of the first days there; from the crushing daily routine to stolen moments of freedom and the struggle that defined life after leaving the school. This remarkable book is both a tribute to the children who were betrayed by an ideal that went terribly awry and a compelling account of an extraordinary episode in Australian British History.
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Poor Ignorant ChildrenTitle: Poor Ignorant ChildrenBookID: poorig-nonficAuthors: Peter D. MurphyISBN-10(13): 0-9696252-1-9Publisher: D Arcy McGee Chair of Irish Studies, Saint Marys UniversityPublication date: 1999Edition: 1stLanguage: EnglishPrice: N/A
"Bad and all as we were we often wished we never seen St. John," lamenated an Irish Famine survivor. Fifteen thousand Irish refugees arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick, in 1847 alone. In Poor Ignorant Children, Peter Murphy charts the fate of Irish orphans in a strange unwelcoming land. Peter D. Murphy is a Halifax-based historian and genealogist. |
New Lives for Old: The Story of Britains Child Migrants
Over 100,000 children were sent across the seas to Canada between 1869 and the late 1930s. Thousands of others were dispatched to Australia as well as to New Zealand, South Africa and Rhodesia up to and even after the Second World War. These young migrants came from charitable organizations or children's homes, and were sent to find a better life as agricultural workers and servants, mechanics and skilled artisans. They were the superfluous thousands of Britain's cities, including workhouse paupers, reformatory inmates, children from industrial schools and those rescued from slums and the streets. Ranging from five- and six-year olds to teenagers, all were thrust into an alien world from which there was little chance of return. This compelling book tells the story of this controversial practice, from the accounts of those involved and the authentic records of the time. It traces the people behind the migrations exploring their beliefs and aspirations for the children in their care. It considers the roles that different organizations (including the Children s Society, National Children s Home and the Catholic Nugent Society Care Homes) played as well as the shipping lines that carried the children from Liverpool, Glasgow and other ports and the centers that received them overseas. Most importantly, it describes the experiences of the children themselves. Clear-sighted and objective, this is a gripping tale of the good, the bad and the ugly based on original documents from The National Archives and other sources. Above all, it celebrates those who welcomed the migrants and the children who managed, against all the odds, to adapt to their new lives.
Marchmont: Distributing Home, Belleville, Ontario, 1870-1925
Title: Marchmont: Distributing Home, Belleville, Ontario, 1870-1925BookID: march-nonficAuthors: James S. GilchristISBN-10(13): 1-55306-571-9Publisher: Epic PressPublication date: Edition: 1stLanguage: EnglishPrice: $20.95
Jim Gilchrist was born in Cobden, Ontario and grew up in Petawawa Township. He attended S.S.4 Public School and Pembroke High School. He spent three years with the Royal Canadian Regiment (1957-60). After military service, he went to Bondy Barber School in Ottawa and barbered for a time. He also studied for the United Church ministy at Queen's University (1968-71) and served several pastorates in the Bay of Quinte area. Jim now lives in Trenton with his wife Mary. They have two sons, Joel and Andrew.
Jim's interest in the British Home Children derived from his grandmother who was one of these deserted children. Her name was Alice Carney and she came to Canada in August 1872, under the auspices of Maria Rye from a Kensington Workhouse, in St. Mary Abbot's Parish, London, England. Jim's search for information about Alice introduced him to the Marchmont Home. What he discovered was much critical opinion about the British Home Children. In light of many positive stories about Home Children, Jim was convinced the truth lay not in the opinion of the critics but in the stories and letters of the Home Children themselves. This book, then, is written solely to provide information from research on those who experienced Marchmont firsthand, those who faced bleak and terrible times in England but, in coming to Canada, altered those odds drastically to become the successes they were.
Jim Gilchrist was born in Cobden, Ontario and grew up in Petawawa Township. He attended S.S.4 Public School and Pembroke High School. He spent three years with the Royal Canadian Regiment (1957-60). After military service, he went to Bondy Barber School in Ottawa and barbered for a time. He also studied for the United Church ministy at Queen's University (1968-71) and served several pastorates in the Bay of Quinte area. Jim now lives in Trenton with his wife Mary. They have two sons, Joel and Andrew.
Jim's interest in the British Home Children derived from his grandmother who was one of these deserted children. Her name was Alice Carney and she came to Canada in August 1872, under the auspices of Maria Rye from a Kensington Workhouse, in St. Mary Abbot's Parish, London, England. Jim's search for information about Alice introduced him to the Marchmont Home. What he discovered was much critical opinion about the British Home Children. In light of many positive stories about Home Children, Jim was convinced the truth lay not in the opinion of the critics but in the stories and letters of the Home Children themselves. This book, then, is written solely to provide information from research on those who experienced Marchmont firsthand, those who faced bleak and terrible times in England but, in coming to Canada, altered those odds drastically to become the successes they were.
Lost Children of the Empire
Title: Lost Children of the EmpireBookID: lostchil-nonficAuthors: Phillip BeanISBN-10(13): 0044403585Publisher: Unwin HymanPublication date: April 1989Edition: 1stLanguage: EnglishPrice: Varies
The extraordinary and untold story of Britain's child migrants is one of 350 years of shaming exploitation. Around 130,000 children, some just 3 or 4 years old, were shipped off to distant parts of the Empire, the last as recently as 1967. For Britain it was a cheap way of emptying children's homes and populating the colonies with 'good British stock'; for the colonies it was a source of cheap labour. The so-called philanthropists and child 'care' agencies which set up migration schemes in the last century built up the dream of a new life in new lands. But in practice, life for the 90,000 children exported to Canada from the 1860s to the 1920s was often one of unremitting hardship, working a sixteen-hour day on isolated farmsteads; they were often beaten and mistreated and never saw their families or the shores of Britain again. But the real shock is that child migration did not end in the 1920s. Even after the Second World War, until it ended some twenty years ago, around 10,000 children were transported to Australia - where many were subjected to at best uncaring abandonment, and at worst a regime of appalling cruelty. Abuse and deception characterised the Australian schemes. Parents were told that their children had been adopted in Britain, children were brought up in Australian institutions to believe they were orphans. Now adults, they still break down when they relate their experiences, and for many the search for family has become a lifelong crusade. Because of the withholding or absence of information, only some are reunited with mothers and relatives they did not know existed - a reunion of happiness and confusion on one side, and guilt and disbelief on the other. Lost Children of the Empire tells the remarkable story of the Child Migrants Trust set up, in 1987, to trace families and to help those involved to come to terms with what has happened. But nothing can explain away the connivance and irresponsibility of the governments and organisations involved in this inhuman chapter of British history. Dr. Philip bean is a trustee of the Child Migrants Trust. Joy Melville is an author and freelance journalist.
The extraordinary and untold story of Britain's child migrants is one of 350 years of shaming exploitation. Around 130,000 children, some just 3 or 4 years old, were shipped off to distant parts of the Empire, the last as recently as 1967. For Britain it was a cheap way of emptying children's homes and populating the colonies with 'good British stock'; for the colonies it was a source of cheap labour. The so-called philanthropists and child 'care' agencies which set up migration schemes in the last century built up the dream of a new life in new lands. But in practice, life for the 90,000 children exported to Canada from the 1860s to the 1920s was often one of unremitting hardship, working a sixteen-hour day on isolated farmsteads; they were often beaten and mistreated and never saw their families or the shores of Britain again. But the real shock is that child migration did not end in the 1920s. Even after the Second World War, until it ended some twenty years ago, around 10,000 children were transported to Australia - where many were subjected to at best uncaring abandonment, and at worst a regime of appalling cruelty. Abuse and deception characterised the Australian schemes. Parents were told that their children had been adopted in Britain, children were brought up in Australian institutions to believe they were orphans. Now adults, they still break down when they relate their experiences, and for many the search for family has become a lifelong crusade. Because of the withholding or absence of information, only some are reunited with mothers and relatives they did not know existed - a reunion of happiness and confusion on one side, and guilt and disbelief on the other. Lost Children of the Empire tells the remarkable story of the Child Migrants Trust set up, in 1987, to trace families and to help those involved to come to terms with what has happened. But nothing can explain away the connivance and irresponsibility of the governments and organisations involved in this inhuman chapter of British history. Dr. Philip bean is a trustee of the Child Migrants Trust. Joy Melville is an author and freelance journalist.
